Presentation, or Charlotte and Her Steak

For fans of the French New Wave, this is a must-see film as you actually get to see a young Jean-Luc Godard acting! Unfortunately, it's only a 12 minute long film, however, so don't get your hopes set too high.

This is one of director Eric Rohmer's first films--a short that appears more like an experiment than a commercial product. And, as a New Wave film, it's allowed to defy typical conventions (like a plot). When the film begins, the narrator (Godard) explains what is happening and what has happened--as if he's explaining what had occurred on the first reel (as if it was lost). It's odd...but again, it's New Wave.

Much of the film consists of Godard and a lady standing around her apartment. She cooks for him, he wants to kiss and she just sits down to eat. Exciting stuff, huh? Well, no...it's not--it's exceptionally talky and dull. But it did help Rohmer and Godard to perfect their craft, so it's a film that their fans would adore--despite being very low energy. As I am not a huge fan of either, however, I found it all pretty mundane--like watching a student film would normally be or like watching paint dry.

As this is an experimental and non-commercial film, I am declining to give this one a numerical rating.

Eric Rohmer's short "Présentation ou Charlotte et son steak" (something like "Presentation or Charlotte and her steak") follows Walter, Charlotte and Clara on an ordinary day simply walking on a snowy place. Then, Walter takes Charlotte to her home, spends some time with her with one single purpose: to kiss her, telling he's in love with her but also provoking her by telling that he likes Clara best. Charlotte refuses giving him a kiss, and only offers a piece of her steak as lunch. In the meantime, they have some conversations about trivial things while he still tries to get a kiss from the girl.

Here's an unusual and forgettable short film whose major attractive is to see Jean-Luc Godard as an actor, and he's a good one. There's nothing so interesting about the story, although it's quite charming, a little bit funny but nothing memorable or dignifying of a great director. It was filmed in 1951 with two actresses, who were later dubbed by another (and more famous!) actresses, Anna Karina and Stéphane Audran, so the only one who's really present is Godard.

It's well made, very nice, enjoyable, exclusively and purely that! 6/10

I wonder why this was made, other than to show us a bit of Jean Luc-Goddard as an actor. Charlotte banters with this guy. He invites himself to her home, even though she is in a rush. They talk about the other woman, Clara, who leaves them a few seconds into the thing. He wants to kiss her. She wants to have lunch, warming up a piece of steak from the refrigerator. The discussion isn't all that dynamic, and the cinematography isn't anything interesting. Had someone besides Rohmer directed this, it probably wouldn't have attracted attention. Anyway, a curiosity out of the way. I guess if it has a positive thing going for it, it would be to check out some Goddard again.

I won't add anymore to the short plot already well described by previous reviewers. I give this short experiment a positive review for its ability to captivate me. I happen to glimpse the snowy but inviting landscape and hear the mysterious opening soundtrack and without having any idea what film happen to be streaming on my monitor I stopped to watch. I found it very charming especially the young man scheming to get a kiss from Charlotte. I didn't find out until it was over that it was directed by Eric Roemer. Furthermore I didn't find out until just now on IMDb that the charming young man was Jean-Luc Godard. Having already seen all six Moral Tales, I'd like to point out that this film follow Roemers pattern of featuring a man choosing between two women. If for no other reason than getting a chance to see young Godard, I suggest looking it up. Its available on Hulu.

After seeing four of Eric Rohmer's films (this one being the fourth), I've become a pretty big fan of his work. However, two of the films of his that I've seen came across as a little bland, even if they had good things about them. Those two films are "Suzanne's Career" and "Presentation, or Charlotte and Her Steak" (the film I'm reviewing right now), which both earned a 6/10 rating from me.

The main issue I have with these two films is that they don't really have much that stuck out as being particularly good about them! In "Presentation, or Charlotte and Her Steak" nothing really interesting happens. It's all pretty much one conversation, that ends in romance, and while it's possible to take that concept and make something really interesting and beautiful out of it, Rohmer doesn't really do it here. Sure, there's some pretty witty dialogue and it's a very well made short, but other than that, there isn't all too much worth mentioning.

Overall, if you want to see EVERY Rohmer film, you might as well check it out.